KEF Holdings has announced that it has successfully constructed 198 canteens and 27 kitchens for the Indian city of Bangalore in just 45 days, using off-site construction technology.

According to KEF, the Indira Canteen project was started – and will be subsidised and run – by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the municipal corporation of Bangalore.

KEF Infra, a subsidiary of KEF Holdings, was awarded the contract to build the 198 canteens, 101 of which will be delivered on 15 August, 2017, to coincide with India’s Independence Day celebrations. The remaining will be delivered in October.

In a statement, KEF Holdings founder and chairman, Faizal Kottikollon, described Indira Canteen as a “dream project of the government of Karnataka, which aims at making clean, healthy, and affordable food accessible to all”.

He commented: “The project demanded high quality, sustainable construction of 198 canteens and 27 kitchens in a very short duration of time of 45 days, a feat impossible with traditional construction.

“We at KEF were keen to demonstrate how a large-scale, complex project can be completed using path-breaking prefabrication technology.”

Kottikollon explained that the company made use of BIM during the design stage to address issues related to space.

“We needed to keep the space fluid because the canteens will see a lot of foot traffic. The design team had to ensure that people can enter, place their order, dine, and leave in the most efficient manner, without creating any bottlenecks. To achieve this, we have the entrance and exit placed at opposite ends of the canteen, and the dining space is distributed equally between indoors and outdoors,” he said.

He added: “Located in densely populated urban areas, the canteens had to be installed in a manner that was least disruptive to existing communities. One key advantage in off-site construction is that all the building work is done at our facility, so there is minimal dust, pollution, or waste created on site.

“We also planned every element in such a manner that the panels and parts were small enough to transport easily in 40ft and 50ft trailers. Each canteen was built, installed, and finished in 7-8 days’ time to lessen the long-term impact construction has on nearby residents.”

The canteens were constructed at KEF Infra Industrial Park, which is located in Krishnagiri, in India’s Tamil Nadu. The facility is dedicated to off-site manufacturing, noted Kottikollon.

Remarking on the benefits of off-site construction, he said: “Off-site production takes the building process away from the physical site and into a controlled factory environment.

“It is possible to manufacture more than 80% of a building offsite using our technology; entire building components such as columns, beams, hollow core slabs, wall panels, staircases, windows, doors, bathroom units, and facades are manufactured in our factories, in a controlled environment before they are installed.”

Pointing out that even MEP services and underground water tanks can be prefabricated and installed as finished units, he added: “Given its assembly line and automated processes, off-site manufacturing can ensure time savings of up to 50% and cost savings of up to 30%. These savings come from the reduced need for preparatory work, materials, and labour on the site.”